Julyan Stone

Yesterday the Knicks worked out UCLA’s Malcolm Lee, UTEP’s Julyan Stone, Morhead St’s Demonte Harper, South Carolina forward Sam Muldrow and Syracuse’s Rick Jackson. Lee is a projected first round selection while Jackson and Stone are projected late 2nd round selections. Lee and Stone are both point guards with good size while Jackson is a 6’9 forward. Malcolm Lee is seen as a bit of a tweener between a point guard and a shooting guard but he has excellent athleticism and is a fantastic defensive player. Stone is interesting because he’s a god awful offensive player, especially when it comes to jump shooting, but he’s a great defender. His defensive versatility is also a potential asset to whatever team drafts him. At UTEP, Stone defended 3 positions. With his 6’5 height and 6’10 wingspan, his versatility should translate to the NBA game. Rick Jackson is a typical undersized forward. He’s got a good motor and became a great college rebounder, averaging 10.3 a game in college. He’s not a greatly skilled offensive player but his rebounding and motor are nice building blocks for him to approve on. Muldrow, 6’9, was a fantastic shot blocker in college, averaging 3.4 blocks per game last season, but he’s very limited offensively. He projects, if he makes improvements, to be a designated defensive, shot blocking big. Demonte Harper averaged 15.5 points per game as a shooting guard for Morehead State. He had some significant scoring games this season, including 38, 35 and 27 point games. Granted he wasn’t playing against NBA level talent but he has some scoring ability.

Rumors were that Jackson and Julyan Stone impressed the coaching staff with their sold play on both ends of the court. I could see the Knicks purchasing a second rounder to select one of these two players as we could use all the bench defenders we could get.